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Aroldis' close pitch riles up Swisher, Indians

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Chapman's wild throw 0:19

5/27/13: Aroldis Chapman reaches 100-mph on a pitch to Nick Swisher but throws it wildly to the backstop

By Jeremy Warnemuende
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MLB.com |

CINCINNATI -- Reds closer Aroldis Chapman irked the Indians a bit in Cincinnati's 4-2 win over Cleveland on Monday, when he threw a 100-mph fastball right past the head of Cleveland first baseman Nick Swisher. It was the second straight wild pitch Chapman delivered to Swisher, with the first one sailing high and outside all the way to the backstop.

Swisher did not seem pleased after the second pitch, mouthing the words "Don't do that" in Chapman's direction, while Swisher's teammates all hopped to the top step of the dugout.

After the game, though, cooler heads prevailed.

"I know you guys are trying to stir some stuff up here," Swisher said. "The first one I saw go by, and I thought, 'Wow, that's pretty quick.' And then that second one was a little too close for comfort. Let's be honest, 100 mph at somebody's head? That's not exactly the best thing."

"Is that the first time you've seen Aroldis throw one on the screen?" Baker said. "I'm serious. I just think that maybe everybody overreacted except the umpire [Paul Schrieber]. The umpire was really pretty cool about handling the situation. That's not something that we'd like to be known for or he'd like to be known for either."

Jason Giambi agreed that Chapman, who is known to have a wild arm at times, did not throw at Swisher on purpose and said the Indians' reaction was more about supporting their teammate.

"I've talked to Chapman plenty of times, and he's a great kid," Giambi said. "But we're going to protect our guys, too, especially Nick, who's a big leader on this ballclub, just to let him know, 'Hey, we've got your back.' But I don't think there's anything to it."

Jeremy Warnemuende is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.